Hundreds, if not thousands, of deported parents are trying to reunite with children left behind in the United States. In 2011, some 1,500 children in Southern California were removed from detained or deported parents and placed in state care.

Under the Obama administration, more than 400,000 people were deported from the United States in 2012. The majority were adults, many with criminal records, but minors are sometimes caught up in this enforcement dragnet.